Sunday, March 01, 2015

The Purpose of the Guard

In an effort to get back to the basics, I have been looking at several introductory books about jiu jitsu lately. This week, my focus has been Jiu Jitsu University by the legendary Saulo Ribeiro--which is, in my humble opinion, one of the very best books for those who are just starting their jiu jitsu journey.

By focusing on safety, defense, and sweeps at the white and blue belt levels, Ribeiro tries to make sure his students have good fundamentals when it comes to staying safe before they start worrying about learning offense. It is only once you get to the section in purple belts where you get a proper introduction to the guard--which is my topic of choice for this post. So that I can keep all of the stuff I am reading straight in my own mind, I am going to be posting notes (and quotes) here in the upcoming weeks as I make my way through some of the classic instruction manuals.

That said, here is what Ribeiro has to say about the Guard:

"The guard is your safety net when everything goes wrong"--it is the position back to which you can and should retreat when things start to go awry!

The guard is a safe position from which one can both sweep and submit.

The key to the guard is distance control (which hinges on good hip movement and hip control).

Using the guard effectively requires you to rely on angle and positioning.

Playing guard on your side cuts down your O's options for passing and attacking.

Contrary to what some would suggest, you ought to consider yourself in a disadvantaged position when you have someone in your guard. The reason: You already have gravity working against you (and for your O).

In order to have an effective guard, you need to be pressing the action.

The paradox of guard: You have to control the space between you and your O without relying on pushing too much with your arms. "Every time you push with your hands, you anchor yourself to the ground." If you move your body rather than pushing with your hands, you create angles rather than anchors.

Ribeiro suggests that open guard is to be preferred to closed guard--which is a controversial sentiment. His main line of reasoning is that (a) closed guard gives one a false sense of safety, and (b) closed guard limits your horizons by limiting the number of available techniques and transitions.

You need to become comfortable in the guard. This will require you to familiarize yourself with several different guard systems and the most efficient ways to transition between them.

You need to develop a dynamic guard rather than a static guard--which will also make it easier for you to become comfortable having someone in your guard (whether open or closed).

Be adventurous and explore as many guard systems as possible so you find the ones that best suit your style, body type, approach, etc.

"The best guard training method is to limit what the student can do from the guard. The first thing I teach my guys is that if you cannot move your hips, your legs have no power. If you cannot move your hips, you cannot create angles. And if you push, you block your hips. What most people do is push, push, push. To counter this tendency, I limit what body parts you can use."

I certainly find these tips, reminders, and recommendations useful. Hopefully, you get something out of them as well! If so, pass them along (and buy the book)!